An Introduction to the Heliopause Setting
Heliopause is a background setting for the Grunts 15mm SCI-FI game. It is based in the Universe we live in now and the setting is based around a period of the early 2200's. Mankind has extended their exploration and expansion across known space which extends to the edges of the Milky Way. Information and scientific discovery is reaching out beyond the outer limits of the Milky Way. Heliopause is set against a backdrop of modern, well established human space settlements. Worm hole and FTL drive technology has allowed the human race to settle hundreds of compatible extrasolar planets. Some are more habitable than others and corporate investment in infrastructure in the new worlds is often measured by the level of raw resource available to mine and trade. Public ecological sensibility guides some of the development of new planets and most planet to planet travel, on already established worlds, is made by train. Trains are linked between planets by powerful air-pressure locked, land based worm holes which carry the rail links. Humankind has met many alien species as they explore space but most still remain aloof or are actively at war. Some of the objectives and habits of the alien races are a mystery, including races like the Ion. The Ion is a sylph like race of aliens that are unintelligible and inhabit many forests on now populated exoplanets. Many travellers tell of paths between planets that the Ion can walk but no proof or power source has been discovered to allow humankind to track these mythical pathways which appear to mirror the power hungry wormhole technology used by the human race. In amongst the well established core worlds and established empirical expansion of earth factions there are many fringe and frontier colonies. These colonies often build their own political agenda from left wing green planets with ecological objectives at the heart through to violent and often lawless right wing colonies, which can be oppressive and focused on conquest through violence. The main catalyst for disruption is the lack of a wormhole. If wormhole technology is not established on a colony they are more likely to be cut-off from key trade and development initiatives which can send a new colony into decline and lawlessness. Humans, with their genetically extended lives, are little changed from modern day man. Faster, constant links to information and control systems via the neural network (NN) provide knowledge and information that allow all people the potential for rapid intellectual and physical growth. More leisure time is available due to the increased reliance on intelligent robotic systems and self-healing technology. Planetary exploration and settlement has led to an explosion in resource requirements which combined with human longevity has kept work at the centre of the lives of normal people. Normal citizens are a little more advanced physically than in the 21st Century. They can integrate better with technology via the Neural Network (NN) and are generally more intelligent and physically fit. They store a copy of all memories and synapse detail in a chip implanted in the back of their skull called the SN or Spirit-Node which is built with Diamond State Technology. This chip can be used to restore an individual to life in a newly grown body. Death in military service results in the SC chip being sent home to family members for a costly clone body process. Bodies are disposed of in the field and incineration is always preferred to burial. Humans can also attend “Rejuve” clinics to pull back the years and become a teenager again with advanced genetic techniques which rejuvenate the body and reset the clock. Some disorientation and disconnection from reality does occur during a re-build or rejuve process and most people going through rejuve will have some form of cosmetic alteration as part of the package.